


Taming the Dragon Keeper

by TangentiaLives



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, HEA, Let’s go to the Dragon Reserve!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-17
Updated: 2021-02-17
Packaged: 2021-03-12 05:21:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,066
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29504751
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TangentiaLives/pseuds/TangentiaLives
Summary: It goes like this: Hermione is matched to Charlie for the damned Marriage Law nobody wants, but she’s determined to make the best of it.Charlie, it seems, isn’t.
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Charlie Weasley
Comments: 10
Kudos: 35





	Taming the Dragon Keeper

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! I wrote this quite some time ago for a prompt on Hermione’s Nook. I actually know precisely what I would do with it but I am totally sunk on my other fics rn, so updates will be very slow.

By the time the sun created the horizon, Hermione had been attempting to sleep for seven hours and thirty-two minutes. Her mind had been plagued by the letter she knew would arrive, images of a Ministry-embossed letter stamped into her mind. Every time she opened the letter in her mind it revealed a name that sent shivers down her spine. Malfoy and her schoolmates were the least horrid of the possible Nasties - for all she knew, she could be paired with Lord Malfoy himself or any of his compatriots, like Dolohov, LeStrange, or even Greyback. 

Even now she could feel the werewolf as he licked his way down her tender throat, his teeth grazing her as he salivated over making her a tasty afternoon snack. 

Understandably, she was a little...on edge by the time the stupid owl arrived, and she snatched the letter with less grace than normal. The owl fixed her with a baleful glare before it swept off to go ruin someone else’s life.

Heavily, she sat in her chair, the hard wood somehow bolstering her, and stared at the letter. For the first time, she wished she had taken Molly up on her offer to open it at the Burrow when everyone did, but she had felt it was something she needed to face on her own. Somehow, she had thought being in her own home would ease the blow, but she regretted it now. The Weasleys, and Harry of course, had really become her family. 

Right about now, she could use their easy comfort and staunch loyalty. 

But it was just her, the early morning sun, and a cup of lukewarm tea. 

“Avoiding what’s inside isn’t going to make any difference,” she told herself. “It’ll still be exactly the same an hour from now as it is now.” 

Her Gryffindor courage bolstering her, she tucked her finger under the flap and broke the wax. A moment later the letter was in her hand, and her eyes scanned it as she searched for what she most desperately wanted to know. 

_ By Order of the Ministry of Magic under Regulation 712-S…Matches have been created by examination of several characteristics, such as compatibility, magical strength, and magical genealogy….All couples must cohabitate within the same dwelling and share a bed. Non-compliance can result in severe penalties, including... _

**_Hermione Jane Granger and Charles Septimus Weasley_ ** _ have been ordained... _

If she had been standing, her legs would have given out from underneath her. 

Charlie. Her match was Charlie. 

For a moment, she rested her head against the table, breathing deeply in relief. It could have been so much worse. So much. 

She might have liked to have been paired with one of the other Weasleys that didn’t routinely throw themselves into danger and also lived within Britain, but she couldn’t complain. The Weasleys, who had taken her in as one of their own, would now be her family by marriage. 

Her mind ground to a halt as she chewed on that last thought. Charlie lived in Romania. How the bloody hell was she supposed to live with him when she worked at the Ministry? 

And she knew  _ she  _ would be moving, not Charlie. He couldn’t just pick up and move to Britain, not when the subjects of his work lived in Romania. Dragons didn’t just grow on trees. 

Her mouth dried up at the thought of moving thousands of kilometres away to an unfamiliar country with a man she barely knew. 

It could be worse. 

“I think I’m going to be sick.” 

But it seemed she didn’t have time to give into the sudden roiling of her stomach, as the floo activated and out stepped the wizard himself, his tall, muscular figure covered in dragon hide. His eyes, a piercing sky blue, gleamed at her. 

“I came straight from the Burrow,” he explained as he brushed his clothes off and took another step towards her, his mouth curling in a smile. “Hey Granger.”

“Hi Charlie.”Her mind struggled to come up with something intelligent, and failed. “Um, would you like a cup of tea?” 

“Yeah. Yeah, that would be nice.” He scrubbed a hand through his hair. “Thanks.” 

The silence was somewhat oppressive as she quickly poured him a cup, the sound of the tea hitting the saucer sounding incredibly loud. 

When she turned around, Charlie had turned a chair around and was straddling it, his arms comfortably draped over the seat back. 

“Thanks, Granger.”

“Hermione.” 

“Excuse me?” 

“Hermione.” She gave him a small smile. “Seeing as we’re going to be - since we’ll be married, I think it only right that we go by first names.” 

“Right.” He took another sip of tea and before placing the cup on the table. “Right. Look, Gr-Hermione, I’ve got to be honest here. You weren’t exactly my idea of a spouse.” 

The churning in her belly turned to a lead weight, and she felt her entire body go cold. She knew she wasn’t a catch, but to just say that? To just put it out there, to say that she wasn’t desirable, when they were required to marry - why would he - why would he  _ say that - _

“Yeah, well,” she heard herself say, “the feeling’s mutual. But here we are, shackled together just like they want. We’ll have to make the best of it, I suppose.” 

He looked at her, long and hard. “Yeah, you’re right. The best of it.” 

The complete lack of enthusiasm in his voice made her swallow. “I know that I’m not - obviously as you said, I’m not a catch, but really I think we’ll learn to budge along as best as we can-“

“Yeah. Yeah, it’ll be fine.” He interrupted her brusquely before proceeding to ask her about her plans to relocate. 

Simple as that. No discussion. Just an assumption. 

Her brows furrowed as she looked at the wizard sitting across the table from her. The Charlie she remembered was easy going and interested in her, or at the very least polite. This wizard was...not, and she wondered what had happened to change him, or if perhaps the wizard she thought she knew had never really existed in the first place. 

Dread curled in her stomach. How were they supposed to have a functioning marriage when Charlie couldn’t even care to do something as minuscule as convincingly reassure her they could get along?

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



End file.
